FSK modulating apparatus

Abstract

 A FSK modulating apparatus having a stable frequency characteristic and free from intersymbol interference and, therefore, feasible for a high-speed data communication system is obtained by the use of three voltage controlled oscillators (11,21,7) having the same characteristics. The first voltage controlled oscillator (11) is provided in a first phase locked loop arrangement (1) functioning to generate a space-frequency. The second voltage controlled oscillator (21) is provided in a second phase locked loop arrangement (2) functioning to generate a mark-frequency. The third voltage controlled oscillator (7) is used to produce an FSK modulated output signal. Just after the input data has changed to space or to mark, a control voltage for a phase locked loop arrangement (1 or 2) associated with the resulting frequency is routed through a low pass filter (5) having a flat group delay characteristic to the third voltage controlled oscillator (7). On the elapse of a predetermined period of time, the third voltage controlled oscillator (7) is connected in place of the voltage controlled oscillator (11,21) of the above-mentioned phase locked loop arrangement.

Description

Background of the Invention

[0001] The present invention relates to an FSK modulating apparatus applicable to a digital data communication system.

[0002] As shown in Fig. 1, a conventional FSK modulating apparatus comprises a voltage controlled oscillator (abbreviated as VCO hereinafter) 31 generating an oscillation signal S31 in a frequency band of 20 MHz, a variable (programable) frequency divider 32 dividing the frequency of the oscillation signal S31 by 418 or 382 in accordance with a space or mark of input data Di to produce a divided output in a 50 KHz frequency band, a phase comparator 33 comparing phases of the divided output from the variable frequency divider 32 and a reference signal of 50 KHz to produce a control voltage for the VCO 31, a reference signal generator 3 generating the reference signal, a low pass filter 34 disposed between the phase comparator 33 and the VCO 31 for removing a undesired component for the phase locked loop operation, a frequency divider 35 dividing the frequency of the VCO 31 output signal by 200 and a low pass filter 36 removing a needless component to deliver an output FSK modulated signal. The VCO generates an FSK modulation signal having 19.1 MHz in the mark or 21.9 MHz in the space.

[0003] It is a common practice according to the conventional FSK modulating apparatus of Fig. 1 to implement a filter having a first-order CR integration circuit as the low pass filter 34 of the phase locked loop. However, there are problems with this kind of such filter that attenuation of a high frequency component is not sufficient and that when the cut-off frequency of the filter is set higher to enhance the response of the PLL loop, the filter cannot sufficiently remove a undesired signal component. Should the response of the PLL loop be lowered, intersymbol interference would occur. The resultant intersymbol interference becomes obstruction to realize a high-speed data communication system. On the other hand, when the low pass filter is implemented with a higher-order filter, harmful oscillation or overshoot due to the filter delay is apt to occur. In addition, such implementation suffers from jitter since the divisor of the variable frequency divider is set every period of the phase comparison frequency.

Summary of the Invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide an FSK modulating apparatus capable of generating an FSK modulated signal having a stable frequency characteristic and free from intersymbol interference and, therefore, feasible for a high-speed data communication system.

[0005] According to the present invention, there is provided an FSK modulating apparatus comprising: a plurality of phase locked loop arrangements each having a first voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) for generating a predetermined frequency signal associated with each state of a modulation signal, the first VCO receiving a control voltage under phase locked loop operation; low pass filter and a second VCO for generating an FSK modulated signal, wherein the second VCO receives through the low pass filter the control voltage applied to the first VCO contained in the phase locked loop arrangement associated with the resultant state of the modulation signal when the state of said modulation signal is changed, and, after a predetermined period, the first VCO in the phase locked loop arrangement is replaced with the second VCO.

[0006] The low pass filter preferably is such as to feed a smoothly-changing control voltage to the second VCO. Thus the low pass filter may advantageously have a flat group delay characteristic.

[0007] In another aspect the invention provides an FSK modulating apparatus comprising a plurality of phase locked loop arrangements each including a first voltage controlled oscillator for generating an oscillation signal, a first selecting means for selecting said oscillation signal or an output frequency signal, a frequency-divider for frequency-dividing a selected signal from said first selecting means, and a phase comparator for phase-comparing phases of a frequency-divided signal from said frequency-divider and a reference signal to produce a control signal for said first voltage controlled oscillator;
   second selecting means for selecting one from the control signals delivered from said plurality of phase locked loop arrangements;
   low pass filter for receiving an output from said second selecting means; third selecting means for selecting an output of said low pass filter or the output from said second selecting means; and
   a second voltage controlled oscillator for generating said output frequency signal in response to an output from said third selecting means, wherein said plurality of phase locked loop arrangements are associated with a plurality of states of a modulation signal;
   said first selecting means in each phase locked loop arrangement operates with a time-delay when the corresponding state of the modulation signal is newly inputted;
   said second selecting means selects the control signal of one phase locked loop arrangement associated with the state of the modulation signal in synchronism with a state change of the modulation signal; and
   said third selecting means selects the output delivered from said low pass filter during a predetermined period when the state change of the modulation signal occurs.

[0008] In a further aspect the invention provides an FSK modulating apparatus comprising:
   a first phase locked loop arrangement including a first voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) for generating a first frequency signal in response to a first control signal, a first selector for selecting said first frequency signal or an output frequency signal, a first frequency-divider for dividing a first-selected output from said first selector by a first divisor, and a first phase comparator for phase-comparing phases of a first-frequency divided signal from said first frequency divider and a reference signal to produce a said first control signal;
   a second phase locked loop arrangement including a second VCO for generating a second frequency signal in response to a second control signal, a second selector for selecting said second frequency signal or said output frequency signal, a second frequency-divider for dividing a second-selected output from said second selector by a second divisor, and a second phase comparator for comparing phases of a second-frequency-divided signal from said second frequency-divider and said reference signal to produce said second control signal;
   a third selector for selecting said first control signal or said second control signal to deliver a selected control signal;
   a low pass filter for filtering said selected control signal from said third selector to produce a filtered control signal;
   a fourth selector for selecting said filtered control signal from said low pass filter or said selected control signal from said third selector to deliver a third control signal;
   a third VCO for generating said output frequency signal in response to said third control signal from said fourth selector; and
   selection controlling means for controlling said first to fourth selectors in accordance with a modulation signal, wherein
   said first and second frequency signals are associated with first and second states of said modulation signal;
   said first and second selector select said output frequency signal with a predetermined time delay when the corresponding state of the modulation signal is inputted;
   said third selector selects the corresponding control signal when the state of the modulation signal is changed; and
   said fourth selector selects said filtered control signal during a predetermined period when the state of the modulation signal is changed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009] The invention will be described merely by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a conventional FSK modulating apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment according to the present invention;

Fig. 3 also shows the embodiment of the present invention having a selection state wherein input modulating data has just changed from a mark to a space; and

Fig. 4 is a timing chart demonstrating the operation of the embodiment shown in Fig. 2.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment

[0010] With reference to Fig. 2, an embodiment of the present invention comprises a phase locked loop arrangement 1 including a voltage controlled oscillator (abbreviated as VCO hereinafter) 11 and generating an oscillation signal S1 corresponding to a space, a phase locked loop arrangement 2 including a VCO 21 and generating an oscillation signal S2 corresponding to a mark, a reference signal generator 3 generating a reference signal Ss to be fed to the phase locked loop arrangements 1 and 2, a switch 4 selecting either of a control voltage for the VCO 11 and a control voltage V2 for the VCO 21, a low pass filter 5 having a flat group delay characteristic and removing a undesired signal component, a switch 6 selecting either of the output of the switch 4 and the output of the low pass filter 5, a VCO 7 generating an oscillation signal S3, which is controlled by the output of the switch 6, a frequency divider 8 dividing the frequency of the oscillation signal S3 from the VCO 7, and a low pass filter 9 removing a unnecessary signal component from the output signal of the frequency divider 8 to deliver an output FSK modulated. signal. The phase locked loop arrangements 1 and 2 includes, in addition to the VCOs 11 and 21, switches 15 and 25, frequency dividers 12 and 22, phase comparators 13 and 23, and low pass filters 12 and 24, respectively. A switch control circuit 10 delivers switching control signals C1, C2, C3 and C4 to the switches 15, 25, 4 and 6, respectively, depending on transition of input data Di (the space and mark). According to the present invention, the VCOs 7, 11 and 21 are designed to have the same characteristic. To this end, the VCOs 7, 11, and 21 have the same circuit configuration in the embodiment.

[0011] The operation of the illustrative embodiment will be described hereinafter. In Fig. 2, the output FSK modulation signal So is assumed to have a frequency of 104.5 kHz (100 kHz plus 4.5 kHz) in the case of a space or a frequency of 95.5 kHz (100 kHz minus 4.5 kHz) in the case of mark. Similarly, it is assumed that the VCOs 11, 21 and 7 have a capacity to oscillate a frequency in a range from 19 MHz to 20 MHz. Particularly, the oscillation frequencies of the VCOs 11 and 21 are designated to 20.9 MHz (space) and 19.1 MHz (mark), respectively. Further, let the frequency of the reference signal Ss be 50 kHz.

[0012] To begin with, the operations of the phase locked loop arrangements 1 and 2 will be described. In the arrangements, the phase locked loop is each set up therein when the switch 15 and 25 select a contact b. At this instant, the output signals of the VCOs 11 and 21 (20.9 MHz and 19.1 MHz, respectively) are respectively divided by 418 and 382 by the associated frequency dividers 12 and 22 to have a frequency of 50 kHz. The phase comparators 13 and 23 each compares the phase of the output signal of the associated frequency divider 12 and 22 with the phase of the reference signal Ss (50 kHz) and produces a voltage corresponding to the phase difference. The low pass filters 14 and 24 each removes a undesired signal component appearing on the associated phase locked loop, thereby producing the control voltage V1 for the VCO 11 and the control voltage V2 for the VCO 21, respectively.

[0013] In the case of a steady mark state wherein the input data Di is the mark and a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the change of the input data Di to the mark, the switches are controlled to have respective positions shown in FIG. 2. Specifically, the switch 25 in the phase locked loop arrangement 2 selects a contact a, i.e., the oscillation signal S3 of the VCO 7 by the switching control signal C2. Further, in accordance with the switching control signals C3 and C4, the switches 4 and 6 select a contact b (the control voltage V2 in the phase locked loop arrangement 2) and a contact a (the direct output from the switch 4), respectively. As a result, a phase locked loop is set up with the VCO 7 instead of the VCO 21. In response to the control voltage V2, the VCO 7 outputs the oscillation signal S3 having the frequency of 19.1 MHz (mark). The frequency of the signal S3 is divided by 200 by the frequency divider 8. The low pass filter 9 removes the unnecessary signal component from the resulting output of the frequency divider 8, thereby producing the output FSK modulated signal So having the frequency of 95.5 kHz (100 kHz - 4.5 kHz) corresponding to the mark.

[0014] How the embodiment operates on the change of the input data Di from the mark to the space is as follows. FIG. 3 shows selection states of the switches wherein the input data Di has just changed from the mark to the space. FIG. 4 is a timing chart representative of this operation. In this change, the switch 15 in the phase locked loop arrangement 1 remains in contact with the contact b and the switch 25 in the phase locked loop arrangement 2 turns to select the contact b. The VCO 11 in the arrangement 1 is controlled by the control voltage V1 to continuously generate the frequency of 20.9 MHz. On the other hand, the switch 4 also turns to select the control voltage V1 in the phase locked loop arrangement 1 in response to the switching control signal C3 while the switch 6 selects the output of the low pass filter 5 in response to the switching control signal C4. As a result, the control voltage V1 is routed through the low pass filter 5 to the VCO 7. Accordingly, the frequency generated by the VCO 7 is shifted from the mark frequency (19.1 MHz) to the space frequency (20.9 MHz). Further, by applying a Bessel type low pass filter having a flat group delay characteristic, as the low pass filter 5, it feeds a smoothly changing control voltage to the VCO 7. Since the VCOs 11, 21 and 7 are identical in characteristic, the frequency of the output signal S3 from the VCO 7 is smoothly changed from 19.1 MHz (mark) to 20.9 MHz (space), as shown in FIG. 4.

[0015] After the elapse of the predetermined period of time, the output of the low pass filter 5 becomes a steady space state, i.e., the oscillation frequency of the VCO 7 has approached 20.9 MHz. Then, the switch 15 in the phase locked loop arrangement 1 turns to select the contact a, i.e., the oscillation signal S3, in response to the switching control signal C1. Further, the switch 6 turns back to select the output of the switch 4 in response to the switching signal C4. Consequently, a phase locked loop including the VCO 7 is set up to allow the VCO 7 to occurately generate the oscillation signal S3 having 20.9 MHz (space).

[0016] The oscillation signal S3 controlled as stated above is frequency-divided by 200 by the frequency divider 8 and, then, processed by the low pass filter 9. As a result, the output FSK modulated signal So having the frequency of 104.5 kHz (100 kHz + 4.5 kHz) is obtained.

[0017] To the contrary, when the input data Di is changed from the space to the mark, similar switching operation is performed in response to the switching control signals C₁ ∼ C₄ as shown in Fig. 4.

[0018] Though the above-described embodiment is the binary (2-level) FSK modulating apparatus, the present invention can be applied to a multilevel FSK modulating apparatus. To realize a four-level FSK modulating apparatus, for example, four phase locked loop arrangements, each generating respective oscillation frequencies and having the same circuit configuration of the arrangement 1 (2) in Fig. 2, are provided and the four outputs thereof are supplied to the switch 4. In this connection, the switching control signal C₃ for the switch 4 and switching control signals for switches (corresponding to the switch 15 (25) in Fig. 2) in respective four phase locked loop arrangements are accordingly modified.

[0019] As described above, in accordance with the present invention, the FSK modulating apparatus having a stable frequency characteristic and free from intersymbol interference and, therefore, feasible for a high-speed data communication system is obtained by comprising three voltage controlled oscillators having the same characteristic. The first voltage controlled oscillator is provided in the first phase locked loop arrangement functioning to generate a space-frequency. The second voltage controlled oscillator is provided in the second phase locked loop arrangement functioning to generate a mark-frequency. The third voltage controlled oscillator is used to produce an FSK modulated output signal. Just after the input data has changed to the space or the mark, a control voltage for a phase locked loop arrangement associated with the resulting frequency is routed through a low pass filter having a flat group delay characteristic to the third voltage controlled oscillator. On the elapse of a predetermined period of time, the third voltage controlled oscillator is connected in place of the voltage controlled oscillator of the above-mentioned phase locked loop arrangement.

Claims

1. An FSK modulating apparatus comprising:
   a plurality of phase locked loop arrangements each having a first voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) for generating a predetermined frequency signal associated with a respective state of a modulation signal, said first VCO receiving a control voltage under phase locked loop operation;
   low pass filter means; and
   a further VCO for generating an FSK modulated signal, wherein upon a change in state of the modulation signal said second VCO receives through said low pass filter means the control voltage applied to the first VCO contained in the phase locked loop arrangement associated with the then-resulting state of said modulation signal, and after a predetermined period, the first VCO in said phase locked loop arrangement is replaced with said further VCO.

2. An FSK modulating apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein each phase locked loop arrangement includes a first voltage controlled oscillator for generating an oscillation signal, a first selecting means for selecting said oscillation signal or an output frequency signal, a frequency-divider for frequency-dividing a selected signal from said first selecting means, and a phase comparator for phase-comparing phases of a frequency-divided signal from said frequency-divider and a reference signal to produce a control signal for said first voltage controlled oscillator;
   the apparatus further comprising second selecting means for selecting one from the control signals delivered from said plurality of phase locked loop arrangements and delivering the selected control signal to the low pass filter;
   third selecting means for selecting an output of said low pass filter or the output from said second selecting means;
   said first selecting means in each phase locked loop arrangement operating with a time-delay when the said respective state of the modulation signal is newly inputted;
   said second selecting means selecting the control signal of the phase locked loop arrangement associated with said respective state of the modulation signal in synchronism with the change of the modulation signal to that state; and
   said third selecting means selecting the output delivered from said low pass filter during a predetermined period after the state change of the modulation signal occurs.

3. An FSK modulating apparatus as claimed in Claim 1 comprising:
   a first said phase locked loop arrangement including a first voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) for generating a first frequency signal in response to a first control signal, a first selector for selecting said first frequency signal or an output frequency signal, a first frequency-divider for dividing a first-selected output from said first selector by a first divisor, and a first phase comparator for phase-comparing phases of a first-frequency divided signal from said first frequency divider and a reference signal to produce a first said control signal;
   a second said phase locked loop arrangement including a second VCO for generating a second frequency signal in response to a second control signal, a second selector for selecting said second frequency signal or said output frequency signal, a second frequency-divider for dividing a second-selected output from said second selector by a second divisor, and a second phase comparator for comparing phases of a second-frequency-divided signal from said second frequency-divider and said reference signal to produce a second said control signal;
   a third selector for selecting said first control signal or said second control signal to deliver a selected control signal to the low pass filter signal to produce a filtered control signal;
   a fourth selector for selecting said filtered control signal from said low pass filter or said selected control signal from said third selector to deliver a third control signal;
   said further VCO generating said output frequency signal in response to said third control signal from said fourth selector; and
   selection controlling means for controlling said first to fourth selectors in accordance with a modulation signal, wherein
   said first and second frequency signals are associated with first and second states of said modulation signal,
   said first and second selector select said output frequency signal with a predetermined time delay when the corresponding state of the modulation signal is inputted.
   said third selector selects the corresponding control signal when the state of the modulation signal is changed, and
   said fourth selector selects said filtered control signal during a predetermined period when the state of the modulation signal is changed.

4. An FSK modulating apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said first and second frequency signals are associated with mark and space in an FSK modulation signal, respectively.

5. An FSK modulating apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said low pass filter has a flat group delay characteristic.

6. An FSK modulating apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, further comprising:
   a third frequency-divider for frequency-dividing said output frequency signal to produce a resultant FSK modulating signal.

7. An FSK modulating apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, wherein said first, second and third VCO have substantially the same characteristics.

Drawing